Merchandise racks are used to display a wide variety of consumer products. Typically, such racks have a base structure with a number of parallel vertical standards which extend upwardly from the base. A vertical support panel is generally at the back, and supports the vertical standards. The vertical standards have a series of vertically spaced slots along their height for receiving the "hook" or attachment portion of a merchandise display means such as a shelf unit. Shelf units generally have rigid hook-like projections which are adapted to fit and lock within a slot in two or more of the vertical standards. The vertical standards are fixed to the base in spaced relation so that standard widths of shelving, e.g., four foot or eight foot widths, are supportable thereon.
In a typical display rack, the shelf units are supported such that they extend horizontally or angularly outward from the vertical standards. One drawback of horizontal shelves is that merchandise at the rear of the shelves is less visible than that at the front and therefore tends to sell more slowly; customers cannot see it so easily and it can be overlooked. This problem may be alleviated by supporting the shelves on legs that angle downward and outward from the vertical standards. In this configuration, the shelves are stepped such that each shelf extends further outward from the vertical standards than the shelf above it. Thus, merchandise remaining at the rear of each shelf remains relatively visible.
Merchandise display racks having horizontal shelves can be converted to racks having stepped shelves by adding angled legs to the pre-existing structure to support the stepped shelves. Difficulties arise, however, when there are discrepancies between the horizontal width of the shelving, the spacing of the vertical standards, and/or the spacing between the angled legs. These discrepancies, which are largely due to the manufacturing variances between the different producers of the components of display racks, are very frequent and may be on the order of 1/4"-1/2" or more. What has been needed is a display rack with angled legs which can accommodate the above-mentioned discrepancies, so as to convert pre-existing merchandise display racks having horizontal shelves, to merchandise display racks having angularly stepped shelves.